"Fair pay is a big issue for places like old people's
homes." "Care staff get dreadful wages for the work they
do."

These are a sample of the comments made to the Human Rights
Commission when it talked to 3000 New Zealanders in its National
Conversation about Work project last year.

As a result of the long-standing concerns about fairness in the
aged-care sector, the Commission will this year hold an inquiry into the
equal employment opportunities (EEO) issues in the aged-care sector.

"We want to hear the views of nurses, carers and GPs, and
those receiving care, as well as the views of district health boards,
employers, managers and anyone who has an interest in improving
conditions in the sector", said EEO Commissioner Judy McGregor.

The Commission's EEO team will visit a number of regions and
hopes to hold public and individual meetings and to talk to as many
people as possible in the lime available. The regions include Auckland,
Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and
Southland.

The inquiry's terms of reference include: the regulatory
frameworks in the aged-care sector workforce supply issues, including
recruitment and retention; training and qualifications; conditions of
work, including staff-to-resident ratios and managerial competence;
wages of nurses health care assistants and others in the sector and
equal pay, pay parity and pay equity issues; the role of men and women
working in the sector; migrant workers; and other EEO issues.

"We would like to talk to groups of nurses and health care
assistants. We will be working with Grey Power to talk with people
receiving care and their families, as we travel around," McGregor
said.

During the meetings, participants will be asked such questions as:

* What do you like about your job in the aged-are sector?

* How could your job be improved?

* Do you have any thoughts about your pay, your hours of work, your
training, your conditions of work or any other issues?

The information will be collected and written up anonymously, so
people can talk safely without being identified individually.

Anyone wanting to be involved in the inquiry, either in a lunch,
morning or afternoon tea meeting or individually, should email
sueo@hrc.co.nz. To make an electronic submission, go to
www.neon.org.nz/agedcareinquiry/.